User blog:Anobi/Impressions of the New DmC

Literally just finished playing one level of the demo of DmC: Devil May Cry, and my honest-to-goodness first impression? Where is the barf bag... Not because the game was that bad, but the constantly adjusting (and adjusted) camera gave me motion sickness. Urp...

The biggest threat in the game are those damn bottomless pits...on normal mode, I didn't die once to the enemies. I guess they expected that because my mission score wasn't affected by falling into the pit. DT was also a let-down... I activated it only to find all the enemies that were literally right next to me were now dangling hopelessly out of reach, and by the time I remembered how to lift/pull and smack one twice, DT was over. F-you, too, Ninja Theory.

I have to agree with some others who expressed that holding the trigger buttons to attack is terribly annoying. When you're busy holding down the trigger buttons, it's hard to hit the bumpers to dodge. I guess when you're in Angel mode you're supposed to hit the Devil Dodge, and vice versa, but srsly, my brain is not wired to do that. (I just resorted to holding down the Angel trigger and jumping to dodge.) Not only that, but my knuckles started to hurt from it. The lack of a lock-on feature is depressing as well, especially since the right analog stick controls the camera; you can't change the camera angle during an attack, so if you get caught facing a wall or with enemies behind you, you just kind of have to turn around and flail blindly.

For as much ado that was made about the environment, I didn't find it all that interactive. The Grim Grip analogs were clearly marked and one-trick ponies that were forgotten after activation, and the changes the zone makes when trying to stop you are scripted and easily avoided by running and gliding. Just the platforming sections were annoying, and I do mean annoying, not challenging. Dante is difficult to aim prior to launching and it is nearly impossible to accurately change directions in the air. And forget targeting a Lost Soul while in mid-air... stupid lack of lock-on.

Did I mention I hate the camera?

Let's see, what do I have to say about this that's good...

Combat got my blood pumping, (once I got over the drunken camera.) The combination of fast attacks and heavy music, coupled with my unfamiliarity with the game, were enough to make me sweat a little. Ah, now I have to temper that phrase by saying that combat felt more like an interrupt than in previous games, as if it was designed to slow down all of not -Dante's frantic running.

Um. Yeah. That's about the size of it.

For another editor's take on the demo, check out MochiMustache's review.